Cardiac Cuse Climbs 4 Spots in USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Top 20

Give Syracuse this much: It is as tested in tight games as just about any contender to play deep into May this season.

The Orange have split six one-goal games after Saturday’s 18-17 defeat of Virginia that offered at least an echo of some of the wild games the programs have co-authored over the years. Syracuse was coming off a 10-9 defeat of North Carolina, and three of its losses (Maryland, Army and Cornell) have come in overtime.

(The other team that should be comfortable in the crucible of one-goal games is Johns Hopkins, which lost one to Syracuse in March. The Blue Jays have a pair of overtime triumphs this month, against Penn State and Ohio State, and have played in five one-goal decisions.)

Back to Syracuse: The comeback against the Cavaliers fits into an archetype of victories over the years, when it felt like the Orange — whether under Roy Simmons Jr. or John Desko — were never really out of games. Inevitable would be too strong a descriptor, but unrelenting isn’t far off.

There was a hint of that in a game late last season, when Syracuse looked unbothered and completely at ease against North Carolina that was secured only with a goal in the final 15 seconds. This year’s version of the Orange is older, deeper and more dangerous — and also back into the top 10 after its final game before the ACC tournament.

USA LACROSSE DIVISION I
MEN’S TOP 20

1. Notre Dame, 9-1 (Prev: 1)
2. Duke, 11-3 (Prev: 2)
3. Johns Hopkins, 10-3 (Prev: 3)
4. Denver, 10-2 (Prev: 6)
5. Virginia, 10-3 (Prev: 4)
6. Maryland, 8-4 (Prev: 5)
7. Penn State, 9-3 (Prev: 7)
8. Syracuse, 11-4 (Prev: 12)
9. Yale, 11-2 (Prev: 8)
10. Georgetown, 9-3 (Prev: 9)
11. Cornell, 8-4 (Prev: 10)
12. Army, 10-2 (Prev: 11)
13. Richmond, 9-4 (Prev: 14)
14. Princeton, 8-4 (Prev: 18)
15. Towson, 10-3 (Prev: 15)
16. Saint Joseph’s, 9-3 (Prev: 16)
17. Penn, 8-5 (Prev: 13)
18. Delaware, 8-3 (Prev: 17)
19. Colgate, 8-5 (Prev: 20)
20. Michigan, 7-6 (Prev: NR)

Also considered (alphabetical order): Boston U. (7-6), Harvard (7-5), Lehigh (7-6), Loyola (7-6), Utah (9-4), Villanova (8-5)

HOT

Syracuse (+4)

There were a lot of good parts to Syracuse’s 18-17 victory over Virginia, not the least of which is that the Orange all but secured a first-round home game in next month’s NCAA tournament.

But consider that Syracuse went goal for goal with one of the sport’s most loaded offenses and did so on a day sophomore attackman Joey Spallina had no points and took only three shots. That says plenty about the Orange’s strong cast (Owen Hiltz had three goals and five assists), but it also is indicative of Spallina’s smarts and willingness to defer when he’s drawing oodles of attention. It won’t improve his Tewaaraton case, but it sure did help Syracuse beat the Cavaliers. Needless to say, that matters more.

Princeton (+4)

Michael Gianforcaro did a bit of everything for the Tigers — 15 saves to go with the program’s first goal by a goalie since 2008 — in a 15-10 defeat of Penn that considerably improved their chances of reaching the Ivy League tournament.

Princeton will claim the last spot in the four-team event with a victory at Yale or a Brown loss at Harvard on Saturday.

What it also did was maintain a level of intrigue in the NCAA tournament at-large pool that was nearly extinguished when Rutgers, North Carolina and Harvard all lost. There’s still an at-large path for the Tigers if they beat Yale and then win an Ivy semifinal. And while it might require help from elsewhere, it’s still a possibility worth watching.

NOT

Penn (-4)

The Quakers probably won’t be upset if they never see Gianforcaro, Princeton’s senior goalie, ever again. He made 17 saves against them in the regular season last year, a game Penn scratched out in overtime. He stopped 15 shots in last year’s Ivy League semifinals to end Penn’s season. And his 15-stop showing Saturday likely denied the Quakers a piece of this year’s Ivy regular-season title.

The 15-10 loss was also damaging for the Quakers’ postseason positioning. Penn has an open date on the final weekend of Ivy play, and it will likely need at least one victory in the league tournament to earn its way to an NCAA berth.

IN

Michigan (No. 20)

Things got a little more harrowing for the Wolverines than they would have liked in Saturday’s 13-12 defeat of Ohio State — Michigan, after all, led 13-7 with 10 minutes to go and 13-9 with two minutes to go. Nonetheless, Hunter Taylor’s save with 46 seconds remaining helped seal a triumph that snapped a three-game skid.

Michigan locked up a home game and a rematch with the Buckeyes with the victory. It is the third year in a row the rivals will meet in back-to-back weeks. Ohio State won both games in 2022, and Michigan won both last year to jump start a winning streak that landed them a Big Ten tournament title and a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals.

OUT

Harvard (was No. 19)

The Crimson has dropped five of six since its 6-0 start, though Saturday’s 15-8 loss at Cornell was the first time Harvard has not been within two goals in the final six minutes of a loss this season.

Saturday’s setback coupled with Princeton’s victory over Penn eliminated the Crimson from Ivy League tournament contention, which means the stellar season of Sam King (36 goals, 33 assists) will conclude Saturday when Harvard plays host to Brown.